A few months ago, I came across a thought-provoking thread on Twitter. Essentially, a denunciation of how entirely soulless and devoid of character modern architecture and design have become. The thesis is pretty simple—modern architecture sucks because it’s boring. And by modern architecture, we’re not talking about the crazy, convoluted lines and headache-inducing spaces of designer buildings. Like @culturaltutor says, at least those are examples of effort. Of architects or designers trying. But those are hardly representative of our era, are they? Bland, cuboid apartment blocks are more our jam. And I get the thinking: why waste effort and resources on detailing when it doesn’t add to function? Totally logical. It’s also why hardly anything built recently seems to have any character anymore. Extremely functional, and extremely boring.
Detail is important because it says a lot more about a particular thing than any purely functional, barebones version could. In art and architecture, it bestows beauty. In journalism, it delivers depth and insight. Great narrative style aside, it’s also why you should read our latest crop of stories—they’re packed full of juicy detail.
